Very interesting indeed. I would say that we should not be concerned with strict relationship (given the variable measures of disease burden), but any clear outliers should get attention eg ME & CFS are underfunded by an order of magnitude and hence clearly need more attention and research capacity building.

I agree, Snow Leopard. There should be a move towards hard data, but I think it should be *somewhat* flexible. For example, if there is an outbreak of illness X, more funding might be allocated its way temporarily, in a way that is completely independent of its prevalence or disease burden.